The obituary of Erastus B. Hoffman, found in the Harrisburg Patriot of 8 December 1921, has verified another name for the ever-growing list of Civil War veterans with connections to the Lykens Valley area of Pennsylvania. FUNERAL TODAY FOR ERASTUS HOFFMAN Alderman of Fifth Ward Died Monday in University of Pennsylvania Hospital Following Operation Funeral […]

An entry in a 9th Pennsylvania Cavalryman’s diary read as follows: Saturday 30th [November 1861] – In the morning about 4 A.M. another excitement On board the Arago owing to a report that Isaac Messner was kicked over board by one of the Horses on board the Anglo Saxon… one of Co. B…. Both sides […]

Philip Harman, who enrolled in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry at Berrysburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on 16 September 1861, and was mustered into service at Harrisburg, 7 October 1861, as a Private in Company B, was a 21 year old farmer whose residence was Dauphin County. His physical description included a height of 6 feet 1 […]

Dr. Helen Delucia [Fisk] Hoffman died on 16 May 1941 at Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York, at the age of 92. According to her death notice (above) which appeared in the Naples, New York Record, she was “one of the pioneer woman physicians, and for many years was a member of the staff of the […]

Thomas William Hoffman was born in Berrysburg, Dauphin County, on 21 July 1839, the son of Amos A. Hoffman (1809-1897) and Amanda [Harper] Hoffman (1815-1897). Through the paternal line, he was a direct descendant of Johann Peter Hoffman (1709-1797) and his son, John Nicholas Hoffman (1749-1814), pioneer settlers of the Lykens Valley. Thomas served two […]

PA Historian

Norman Gasbarro, Ed.D., is a genealogical/historical researcher and writer living in Philadelphia, PA. Norm taught history for over twenty-five years. He is a graduate of Muhlenberg College with a major in history and holds advanced degrees from Rowan University (NJ) and Columbia University (NY).

Praise

"I like this website because it gets into the individual lives of those who lived through very hard times. It lets us know what became of them even after the Civil War besides what it was like to go through the war. I also like the ancestral connections so that whoever is reading this, has a lot of what it takes to put their family tree together, therby decreasing their work load." P, Gammill